Hi, I have been trying to get pregnant for 4 years. I am seeing
an acupunturist and she has told me that my TSH of 3.91 is high
and that alot of fertility doctors want to see it at 2 to get
pregnant. I have symptoms like cold all the time, sleeping too
much, brittle nails and thyroid problems really run in my family.
My kaiser doctor dismissed me 100% when I brought this up with
her, saying you are fine.. and that the range of 1-5 is normal
not the range of 1-3 which is newer that my acupunturist told me
about.

Anyway my doctor won't treat me and I am convinced my thyroid is
playing a role in this. I also had a free T4 test done and it was
on the low end .9 and the scale starts at .7

Help! Does anyone know a doctor I can see at Kaiser or anywhere
that will believe me and knows about this. Or a fertility clinic
that will treat this. Or has anyone used natural supplements to
bring their TSH level down and concieve.

Let me know!

I can highly recommend Dr. Eric Buxton at UCSF. I had a TSH very similar
to yours and
it is NOT normal. The thyroid is a very person-to-person thing, so
what's normal for
one person is not necessarily normal for another. Since I started seeing
Dr. Buxton
about a year ago my TSH has come to about 1.0, which is great for TTC. I
think I have
some other issues as well, however, which prevents my conceiving without
further
intervention. I happen to have two adopted children, one of them new to
our family, so
we are not TTC at this point. However, I continue to take my thyroid
hormones as they
help with other issues I was having before (low sex drive, hot flashes,
etc.).

I really suggest you call Dr. Buxton. You'll have to pay for it
yourself, but if a
pregnancy is the outcome then won't it be worth it? His office number is
(415) 681-
7707.
Jen

It's hard to find a Dr. at Kaiser (in my experience) who
connects one part of the body to the other.
It sounds to me like you ahve hypothyroidism...cold, brittle
nails, tired. How about weight gain? Hair falling out? Hoarse
voice? COnstipated?..many more symptoms.
Even if a Dr. won't connect hypothyroid to infertility, you
should be on thyroid meds. There are synthetic hormones and
more natural hormones such as ''Armour Thyroid''. I've been on
that for years (rx'd by Kaiser). Do you go to Oakland, or
Richmond? (You can get Armour thyroid at Kaiser pharmacies)
At Richmond Kaiser I can recommend Marianna Philippek. She's
nurse practitioner and more wholistic minded than any other Dr.
I've met at Kaiser. Good luck.
June
You need to see an endocrinologist. I went through the
whole ''your levels are fine'' with an internist at Kaiser. I
insisted on seeing an endocrinologist, they said fine, so now
Dr. Kanter, and endocrinologist at SF Kaiser, is my doctor.
They usually do more through bloodwork and are more
knowledgeable about hypothyroid issues. They should test for
antibodies as well as tsh levels etc. Good luck!
Ilene
Your acupuncturist is right. Your doctor is informed about what
is considered normal for the general population. But there is
good research indicating that a SMALLER range is more optimal
for fertility. (I was treated for my thyroid by Dr. Marcelle
Cedars at UCSF... and she is highly, highly informed.) Thyroid
is one of the easiest, most straightforward fertility issues to
treat, using standard Western medicine. (Synthroid is the drug
name.) You should get yourself to a doctor who will treat it.
Chris
If you can't find a new doctor, or even if you can, bring this
article with you.
http://www.aace.com/newsroom/press/2003/index.php?r=20030118
Paragraph 3 addresses the new (2003!) recommended range for
normal thyroid functioning, 0.3-3.04.

Your doctor is simply outdated. What's more, s/he should be more
concerned that you feel bad than that your number is within
range....There's reason #1 to find a new doctor.
Good Luck

In college I was on thryoid. When I left college I was off them
for years.

I married, joined Kaiser & wanted to be pregnant. I had several
miscarriages and for 2 years begged Kaiser for thryoid. My TSH
was a bit worse than yours- 4.9 (top of the range, meaning lower
on thyroid) and my T4 was very low- (1 )- still the docs brushed
me off, told me I was normal & they wouldn't treat out of range.
###Note: my mother and sister had trouble conceiving-trying for
7+ years each with multiple miscarriages- and both got pregnant
the month after they began taking thyroid).
Kaiser's infertility docs wouldn't give me thyroid either.
Even after the fertility drugs failed.

Then, by chance, I had a drug reaction that was rare and I was
able to convince my GP that this reaction was caused by low
thyroid (it is indicated in the drug notes) - A blood test
confirmed the reaction. Only then, and quite reluctantly, my GP
gave me thyroid.
[[[This drug reaction was a lucky break, so to speak]]]

I got pregnant my next cycle, did not miscarry and now I have a son!
Once I was pregnant the Kaiser docs were very diligent about
keeping my TSH normalized and even increased my levothroid dose.
Today, I see a doctor outside of Kaiser who wants to keep my TSH
closer to 2! Many private fertility clinics want your TSH closer
to 2.
^^^^^^^So, if you want to be pregnant, just pay out of pocket to
see another doctor for a ''2nd opinion''. I'd suggest a ''women
focused'' practice (not just a gyno, but the whole body of the
woman). & preferably one that is more progressive (biodentical
hormones, acupuncture, etc.) and more likely to look at the newer
data on thryoid levels.

Keep trying all the other fertility treatments available too-
once your thryoid is fixed. It could be a combination of
problems you have.

###Note 2: I was miscarrying nearly every other month (very early
miscarriages!- late miscarriages too) I would take the ''first
response'' pg tests before my period- and have a ''+'' result till
my period was 3-4 days late, then I'd get my period. I had a
blood test at Kaiser on at least 2 of these early miscarriages,
that proved I had been pregnant To me, this showed I was
ovulating pretty well, & that something was making me miscarry.
Kaiser, however, felt it was just ''bad eggs''. Which makes
sense- but the fact I got pregnant and stayed pregnant the first
month after thyroid makes that assumption not so assured.
done that

I had the same problem with Kaiser -- not that I wanted to get
pregnant, but I was suffering many problems that I thought were
due to my low thyroid, but my doctor kept saying, you are close
to normal, so just ''stick with the dosage you are on.'' That was
unacceptable, so here is what I did:

1) I got the book _Living Well with Hypothyroidism_ by Mary
Shomon. Her website is: http://www.thyroid-info.com/. The book
is incredibly helpful on many levels. I cannot recommend it
highly enough. In the book is a list of every possible symptom of
hypothyroidism. I checked off mine (18 of them), despite being on
horomones and having a ''normal'' TSH of 5-6.

2) Next, I emailed my doctor a detailed list of each symptom, and
I included references to the latest studies which showed that a
TSH at 2 or just under was better for patients. The email was
very long, and since Kaiser emails are limited, it took several
emails, just to get the complete message across. Do bombard your
doctor. She needs to hear it.

3) I was referred to an endocrinologist at Kaiser, Dr. Bashkir.
He says that your TSH should be close to 2 as well. If you need
to, I would include in your email to the regular doctor that you
would like to be referred to an endocrinologist. The Kaiser
endocrinologists have information the regular doctors do not
have. (You should put this info in your email as well.)

I suggest that if emails do not get you a referral to an
endocrinologist at Kaiser, switch doctors until you get this
taken care of.

You must constantly push your Kaiser doctor to get an help with
thyroid problems -- at least this has been my unpleasant experience.
kiwi

Check out the following links:

1) For inspiration, here is a story of a woman who finally got
pregnant by battling her doctors to get her TSH level to below 2.0.